Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops speaks during Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday in Dallas. Both Texas and Oklahoma are in an unfamiliar role not being a preseason favorite in the conference. (Zach Long/A-J Media)

Texas quarterback David Ash speaks during Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday in Dallas. Both Texas and Oklahoma are in an unfamiliar role not being a preseason favorite in the conference. (Zach Long/A-J Media)

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops speaks during Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday in Dallas. Both Texas and Oklahoma are in an unfamiliar role not being a preseason favorite in the conference. (Zach Long/A-J Media)

Big 12 Coordinator of Officials Walt Anderson views the Jadeveon Clowney with the help of Dennis Dodd after a discussion on the new targeting rule Tuesday at Big 12 Media Days in Dallas. The new rule was a hot topic among media and coaches. (Zach Long/A-J Media)

DALLAS — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Texas coach Mack Brown showed up at Big 12 football media days in rare roles: If not underdogs, at least not favorites.

For the first time since 1999, neither program was the media’s preseason pick to win the league — or a division under the old two-division setup. Oklahoma is picked second, behind rival Oklahoma State. Texas is slotted fourth, after TCU in third.

That’s what happens when, in Oklahoma’s case, you go 10-3 and get trounced in a bowl game or, as happened with Texas, you finish 9-4 with four conference losses.

“We were 10 wins last year, co-champs in the Big 12, and lost to Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl,” Stoops told a roomful of reporters Tuesday at the Omni Hotel. “No, we’re not pleased about that, but there’s improvement to be made, and our guys are excited about making that improvement and hopefully we’ll be able to do it.”

Both coaches deal with outsized expectations, based on what they’ve added to pre-established legacies. Win a national championship and eight Big 12 titles, as the Sooners have done under Stoops, and a 10-win season is viewed as a dip from which to bounce back.

“I think we’re always motivated,” Stoops said. “I think when you’ve been somewhere 15 years, you’re not going to win the championship every year, but I think we’ve done a pretty consistent job.”

Both teams will find out in a hurry what they’re made of. The Longhorns visit BYU and host Mississippi the first two Saturdays in September, and on Sept. 28 Oklahoma makes a return trip to Notre Dame after the Irish blasted the Sooners last year in Norman.

Since winning a national championship in 2005 and averaging 11 wins from 2001 to 2009, Texas has slipped to 5-7, 8-5 and 9-4 the last three years. The semi-slide has prompted talk that Brown, about to turn 62, might not be long for the job.

Instead, he sounded Tuesday as if he’s not on his last legs.

“What I’m seeing is we’re getting ready to make a run,” he said. “We’re getting much better. We’re getting our depth back. We’re getting our speed back. We’re getting our advantages back and we’re going to be good for a while.

“I think that’s what our administration is seeing. I think that’s what our fans are seeing. That’s why they’re still coming. We still made $163 million last year. Our fans still came, because they can see the hope is back.”

Brown says he’s amazed that Longhorns fans, at least in his view, have been patient. They continued to sell out the last three years, even as the team was going 5-8 in conference home games.

“I’m taking that that the Texas fans have shown me great respect, and our kids,” Brown said. “They’re wanting us to do well. They’re wanting us to get it back, and I think they’ve been great. They don’t boo us. We deserve to be booed some.

“I’m amazed that they’ve handled the last three years as well as they have. That’s why we’re fighting so hard to make sure we pay them back and get them another run.”

Much of Brown’s optimism is based on returning 19 starters — that’s billed as the most of any team in the country — and his sense that quarterback David Ash is poised for a big year.

Brown says 63-21 and 55-17 losses to Oklahoma the last two years have overshadowed Ash’s overall body of work. At times, Brown said, the junior from Belton has played as well as UT exes Vince Young and Colt McCoy.

“I don’t think David’s got nearly the credit he deserves,” Brown said. “To win 10 out of the last 13 games … If you would have polled this (media) group and asked how many games he’s won of the last 13, they’d probably say seven — because there’s been so much more criticism because of the Oklahoma game. It’s not fair to say he hasn’t done anything right.”

Though the Longhorns sagged badly on defense for a five-game stretch last year, Brown stuck with second-year defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and his staff. He noted they were the same coaches who had UT sixth in rushing defense and 11th in total defense the year before.

“They didn’t just get stupid,” Brown said. “We played poorly last year and we were much better at the end of the year. So I thought it was a real advantage to keep things in place and grow and move forward than have the distraction of bringing an entirely new group in.”

It’s assumed Blake Bell will take over at quarterback, but Stoops says sophomore Kendal Thompson and redshirt freshman Trevor Knight have a shot — either to start or use their running skills to keep defenses off-balance.

Even if the offense clicks, there are concerns about a defense that yielded more than 40 points in three of the last four games.

“It’s still a work in progress,” Stoops said. “Definitely in some of our schemes a year ago we were more coverage conscious, and it hurt us in the run game. In the end, we’ll have to make some adjustments there. Personnel wise, we do lose quite a few guys, but we’re very excited about the talent and ability of some of the young players coming up.”